Las Vegas

OK, I finally got the Vegas pictures loaded...and they are in some sort of wacky order so I am just going to leave them that way.  There were eleven of us on the trip, all related.  Both of my grandmothers were their in celebration of their 80th birthdays, both which took place in June if you recall.  My aunt and uncle from California met us there, as did my aunt from Illinois.  My sister and I and our two cousins shared a room.  We stayed at the Flamingo, which was kind of a dive by Las Vegas hotels.  The flamingo theme is fun, with pink everywhere.  I hear they have some delux rooms with neat pink flamingo themed decor but we didn't have those rooms!  Our room was pretty generic and run down.  Apparently they will be renovating all the rooms in the near future.  Not soon enough, in my opinion.  It didn't matter though, since we didn't spend much time in the rooms.

My cousins Katie and Brenna couldn't join us until Friday night (everyone else arrived Thursday afternoon) so when they did they were excited to check everything out.  It was Brenna's first time visiting Vegas.  Notice my obnoxious dress...I am going to start calling that thing my vacation dress because I only wear it on vacations.  You can see me in it in my prior posts dedicated to when I went to Vegas last summer and when I went to Mexico for my cousin's wedding.  It is so garish that a vacation destination is the only place it works.  OK...I admit...I wore it to a bridal shower on a hot summer day once. 

We spent most of Saturday afternoon by the hotel pool.  That pool was a madhouse.  In order to have lounge chair, you had to get in line at 8 am, get your wristband and towel (pink, of course), and scramble to find unused chairs that had not been claimed with a towel already.  It was kind of intense. 

We found a little spot for ourselves that had some shade.  Lucky for me!  That pool is actually a hot tub which is not the most appealing idea in June in the desert but it was nice to have our own little area so we didn't have to watch the booty shaking contests if we didn't want to.  Those contests are pretty funny... 

This was taken outside of the hotel called Ballys, where we stayed last year.  I think we will probably return to Ballys in the future...the rooms were nicer and the pool was less chaotic.  If you were unaware, Ballys and the Flamingo and several other hotels are affiliated and you can use your rewards membership credits at either.  The grandmothers spend quite a bit of time playing the slots which enables us to get very cheap and sometimes free rooms at these places. 

On our last evening we talked about going to a show like we did last year but decided to just hang out and walk around the strip instead.  We came across some club promoters who were giving out free drinks to get people to come to the Miss USA after party (the pageant took place that night!).  Not much was happening at 7 pm but we got our free beers and hung out on the patio.  Later that night when we walked past the club again there were pageant contestants and families milling around outside!  Those girls look very "made up" in real life!  They also look very slim...I guess TV cameras do add some weight...and their heels are sooo high! 

This crazy sofa just begs for tourists to pose on it!  It did't matter...there was no one there as you can see from the background! 

 There are lots of escalators on the strip to prevent the throngs of pedestrians from interfering with traffic.  They are a nice place to rest your legs!

There is the Flamingo...this picture was supposed to be at the top but it ended up down here. 

The back side of the Flamingo has a very nice bird habitat featuring flamingos, of course, and other birds.  They have a bird expert on staff to feed them and take care of everything.  It is a very nice and well kept area...almost like walking through a mini zoo! 

I love visiting Las Vegas.  I love the desert air and the heat and I love the views of the red and brown desert mountains in the distance.  I also love that you can be amused for hours just by walking around.  I enjoy getting a fix on the cheap slot machines, especially if I win a few dollars.  I love the over the top themes of the hotels and how you can get food everywhere you look.  And, best of all, the dry air makes my hair very smooth and agreeable!  I didn't know it was possible for it to look like that until I visited Vegas!  I overlook the cheap laborers handing out flyers for call girls at every street corner and how the casinos are all shrouded in a fog of smoke.  Mostly I love it there.